Mar 24, 2009 -- All the news that’s fit to print takes on different connotations when discussing Jewish newspapers and their coverage of issues of interest to the Jewish community. This was the focus of a panel entitled, “Jews and News: Ethics in News Reporting,” at the Wilf Campus and organized by uundergraduate students. Ilana Hostyk, a Stern College for Women student who moderated the discussion, posed pointed questions to the editors from the top Jewish newspapers in the metropolitan areas including Jane Eisner, editor of “The Forward”; Shlomo Greenwald, associate editor of “The Jewish Press”; Josh Nathan-Kazis, editor of “New Voices Magazine”; and Gary Rosenblatt, editor and publisher of the “Jewish Week.” The event was sponsored by the YU College Democrats, Yeshiva Student Union and Stern College Student Council. Among the questions driving the discussion were what makes an article or event Jewish; how does a Jewish paper handle stories that may reflect negatively on the Jewish community; and should Israel coverage be even-handed? “We try to find a Jewish angle to news stories and we pride ourselves on being independent and telling stories factually in the very best tradition of journalism,” said Eisner. “As far as Israel is concerned, we all have our own emotions about Israel and it’s unrealistic to be objective about it, yet we refrain from bringing our own biases into our reporting.” While the “Jewish Week” covers the Jewish community, it isn’t a source of hard news for their readers. “We strive to find unusual angles not found in other papers and we’re sensitive to community concerns,” said Rosenblatt. “The ultimate challenge is to strike a balance between ‘Jewish’ journalism and ethics.” Not surprisingly, sometimes Halacha [Jewish law] plays a more dominant role in covering stories than journalism, Greenwald pointed out. “As Jewish journalists, we shouldn’t be passive bystanders to controversy playing out in the Jewish community,” the “Jewish Press” editor said. “However, at the same time we must be committed to reporting news in a halachically appropriate way.” As editor of “New Voices,” Nathan-Kazis is more focused on coverage of Israel and generally has a left-leaning posture. “How can we cover Israel evenhandedly?” he asked. The “Jewish Week” supports Israel, said Rosenblatt, but that doesn’t preclude criticism of Israeli policies. In contrast to “The Forward” or “Jewish Week,” the “Jewish Press” primarily carries opinion pieces, and is very pro-Israel. Eisner would like to see her paper’s role as a catalyst to bring Jewish people together. “Sometimes our role is to help Americans stay Jewish,” she said. “It was invaluable for us as students to see the moral rationale that guides each of the Jewish publications,” said Perel Skier, a Stern senior. “We got to see several different points of view and how that affects their selection of material and their treatment of Jewish stories.”